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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22456717">Don't Look Down</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/writesaboutboys/pseuds/writesaboutboys'>writesaboutboys</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shameless (US)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Crime Scenes, Fluff, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Thelma &amp; Louise AU, Thelma and Louise AU, established situationship, i haven't posted on this site in years idk how to tag, ian and mickey deserve more than shameless is giving them, ian is thelma, loosely based, mickey is louise</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 05:49:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,882</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22456717</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/writesaboutboys/pseuds/writesaboutboys</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Okay, here it is. Me and Mandy planned to go up to my Uncle Butchie’s cabin this weekend ‘cause he’s back in jail for goddamn murder and the bank is probably gonna take it soon. But I don’t know I guess Mandy has plans that are more important than hanging out with her big brother?”</p><p>Mickey takes a short pause and furrows his brow before continuing. “Whatever. Anyways, I already asked Fiona for the days off and you know her. And I don’t know I don’t really feel like having a backtrack conversation with her and well, yeah, you know, I was wondering, you know, if you aren’t busy this weekend if you wanted to go? It’s fine if you don’t want to, I don’t really care either way. Mandy thought I should ask. But whatever. Who cares?” Mickey lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding and quickly turns away from Ian and the customers, heading outside for a cigarette.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Don't Look Down</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mickey never understood Ian’s intensity with his work. He’s a waiter in a shithole restaurant on the Southside of Chicago for fuck’s sake. But then again, there are a lot of things Mickey doesn’t understand about Ian. Like the way he can’t seem to hide the goddamn hope on his face and honestly, it’s embarrassing. He doesn’t understand how Ian is able to charm every single person he talks to and well, that’s annoying. He doesn’t understand how despite being raised by Frank and Monica - if you can even call it that - he still turned out to be such a good fucking person, and, god, Mickey’s jealous. But the biggest thing he doesn’t understand is why he’s put up with Mickey’s bullshit for so long. Mickey’s been beaten and battered and abused and no matter how hard he tries; he pushes that onto Ian. But the redhead sticks around. Now, Mickey doesn’t want you getting the wrong idea, he considers Ian, well, a little more than a warm mouth, but not even close to a boyfriend. Or, so he thinks. And if he steals small glances at him between biting his nails then, so what. And if he can’t help but quirk a smile at Ian’s satisfied face when he triumphantly gets the stain out of the counter then that’s just none of your business.</p><p>“Keep staring and you’re gonna burn a hole in his head, idiot.” Mickey tries to will the redness in his cheeks to go away as Mandy walks up to his cozy spot by the front door.</p><p>“Fuck off.” He barely snarls and Mandy lets out a quick laugh before, “So I have some bad news.”<br/>Mickey rolls his eyes at that because, they’re Milkoviches and all news is bad. Turning to face her fully, he quirks an eyebrow indicating for her to continue.</p><p>“I can’t go down to Uncle Butchie’s this weekend.” Mickey’s gaze doesn’t waver as Mandy worries her bottom lip. He tries to hide the hurt in his eyes as his processes her statement. It’s just a weekend trip, but he’s always been closest to Mandy and these days with his job and her stupid new boyfriend, they haven’t really had time to hang out like they used to. He’d been looking forward to this trip for a month, but of course, he doesn’t say that.</p><p>“Seriously Mandy? The shit I went through with Fiona to get these days off...”<br/>“I know!” She interrupts hurriedly, following behind her big brother as he walks out the door for one of his many regular cigarette breaks.</p><p>They stand in silence as Mickey slowly blows out smoke and mills over how to handle his disappointment and the backpedaling conversation he’s going to have to have with Fiona. He tries his best not to look through the glass door at Ian who has moved on to waiting tables, smiling and charming the restaurant’s guests. His self-control falls at the wrong time, though, because as soon as Mandy sees his eyes dart inside a smile spreads across her face.</p><p>“Ah!” she squeals delightedly, smacking Mickey on the shoulder. “This is perfect!” She’s jittering with a level of excitement Mickey rarely sees and he can’t deny his interest. He crushes his cigarette under his boot before looking up at her curiously, “What’s perfect?”</p><p>Mandy’s shit-eating smile only gets bigger before she damn near yells out a “Take Ian!” And if she wasn’t his baby sister, it’s very likely that he would’ve punched her in the face. She’s got to be fucking joking.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>He’s walking further away from Patsy’s shaking his head because this is just ridiculous.<br/>“There’s no fucking way I would even *ask* Ian to go away for the weekend. And what makes you think I’d even want to take a trip with him?” Mickey begins getting irate at the ridiculous claim he knows Mandy is about to make. “What the <em>fuck</em> do we look like?”</p><p>“Boyfriends.” And Mandy says it so confidently it’s infuriating.</p><p>“Fuck off.”</p><p>Mandy sighs, but to Mickey’s dismay, she continues. “Listen, I know you’re still weird about whatever you two are, but it’s obvious you like him. Plus, you’ve already got the days off!” Mickey can feel his resolve crumble and he can’t even fight it when Mandy goes in for a hug.<br/>“It doesn’t hurt to ask,” she whispers in his ear before giving him a pat on the back as she walks off.</p><p>Mandy’s gone, taking her hopefulness with her and Mickey just stands there. He quietly flexes his hands and looks down at the dark ink curving over his knuckles. It’s how he’s grounded himself for years. Through the abuse and the anger and the sadness, a quick stretch of his fingers with a sharp, deep breath would take him out of whatever fucked up situation was at hand. His eyes began to flutter close when the front door to Patsy’s swings open.</p><p>“Aye! Are you napping out here?” Ian’s voice sweetly wraps around Mickey’s ears making his eyes snap open. He smashes down the pang he feels in his heart when he looks up at Ian’s crooked smile coordinating with his tilted head. He shakes his head once in an attempt to knock the thoughts out his mind as he braces himself.</p><p>“Fuck off.” He mutters. His mantra. The thing he says when he has nothing else to say. He aggressively knocks Ian’s shoulder as he walks back in, pushing a laugh out of the younger man.</p><p>“I don’t pay ya’ll to stand around and giggle!” Mickey turns around and is immediately faced with Fiona. She looks between him and Ian and raises her eyebrows. “Get back to work.”</p><p>Ian doesn’t bristle under her gaze, rolling his eyes with a “For your information, we <em>walk</em> around and giggle,” before taking her advice and getting back to work.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>It was over an hour later when Mickey decides to test the waters on this weekend trip with Ian. He walks up to the counter Ian’s returned to with a “hey dipshit,” hoping Ian couldn’t see through his feigned confidence. He thinks he’s got it down when he looks up at Ian refilling a customer’s cup of coffee. His biceps bulging through his thin t-shirt and feels himself start to sweat.</p><p>“Yes, dickhead?” Ian replies after setting the pot down and making eye contact with Mickey. The accidental intensity of it unsettles them both, causing Mickey to look away before heaving himself onto one of the counter chairs.</p><p>“I need to talk to you about somethin’” He says it so quietly, he isn’t sure Ian even heard him until he looks up to his wide green eyes. Mickey bristles. “It’s not a big deal, so calm down the puppy dog eyes.” Ian’s nervousness seems to dissipate with the comment while Mickey’s ramps up.</p><p>“I just. Ah. Well. I don’t know.” Jesus fucking Christ. He hates this. He’s not a nervous person but there’s something about Ian and his big green eyes and his light eyelashes and his stupid, gentle, open face all directed towards him that puts Mickey’s nerves on edge. He tries to force the words out of his throat, but they keep being dragged down by a bundle of nerves sitting on his larynx. They stare at each other for what feels like a lifetime before a bell and an “Order up!” interrupt them.</p><p>“I-uh. I’ll be right back after I do this, okay? Stay right there.” And just like that Ian is gone and Mickey is terrified. He hasn’t even said anything yet but is already preparing for the imminent rejection. Fuck this, he thinks before getting up from the counter and marching over to where Ian is placing two plates of food on a table, smiling down to the customers who are so obviously falling in love with this redhead nymph. Mickey makes a quick decision that if he’s going to bite the bullet and ask Ian to spend a weekend trip with him, then he’s at least going to try and spit the bullet back in the shooter’s face.</p><p>“Okay, here it is. Me and Mandy planned to go up to my Uncle Butchie’s cabin this weekend ‘cause he’s back in jail for goddamn murder and the bank is probably gonna take it soon. But I don’t know I guess Mandy has plans that are more important than hanging out with her big brother?”</p><p>Mickey takes a short pause and furrows his brow before continuing. “Whatever. Anyways, I already asked Fiona for the days off and you know her. And I don’t know I don’t really feel like having a backtrack conversation with her and well, yeah, you know, I was wondering, you know, if you aren’t busy this weekend if you wanted to go? It’s fine if you don’t want to, I don’t really care either way. Mandy thought I should ask. But whatever. Who cares?” Mickey lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding and quickly turns away from Ian and the customers staring up at them in confusion, heading outside for a cigarette. Because, goddamn it, he needs one.</p><p>He’s turned towards the street, flexing one hand and smoking with the other. He doesn’t hear the door open, but immediately senses Ian’s presence behind him. But he can’t turn around and face him. He can’t. He can’t face the rejection he feels coming and even worse, he can’t face the earnestness that he knows is oozing from every feature on Ian’s stupid face. At some point, though, he knows he’ll have to go back inside to work, so he braces himself and turns to face Ian. He feels the redhead give him a once over, stopping at his balled fists - ready for a fight - before looking back up to Mickey’s face and raising an eyebrow.</p><p>“You gonna beat me up?” Ian asks, obviously amused at the tense state of Mickey. And Mickey would like to know what’s so damn funny. His brows furrow and before Mickey can spit out his regular slew of insults, Ian goddamn floats towards him. They’re close, but not touching - too close. Mickey itches to take one or two or a hundred steps back but finds himself frozen in his spot. God, they’re so close and Mickey is suddenly overcome with an intense affection hidden under an armor of fear and anger.</p><p>His breathing picks up as his mind runs through the implications, but when it starts to string together what any of this means, he’s interrupted by a quiet, “Of <em>course</em> I’ll go with you.” And Ian’s looking at him with those eyes filled with longing and Mickey can’t stand it. He gets the feeling back in his body and immediately turns towards the street.</p><p>“Okay.” He says simply. It’s only then that he notices his cigarette still burning and flicks it into the street. When he looks back, he sees Ian’s usual mocking smile replaced with a painfully gentle one and Mickey rolls his eyes before walking back into Patsy’s. He feels Ian follow him inside and visibly relaxes. Well, fuck, that wasn’t too bad, Mickey thinks. Maybe this weekend will be fun. He shrugs before going back to his post by the door. What could go wrong?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I was rewatching Thelma &amp; Louise right after watching an episode of Shameless when I got this idea. I haven't written in almost 7 years, so we'll see how this goes!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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